Pokémon Reset Bloodlines – Mars Gaiden
by BRANDON369
Summary: Mars is the youngest and possibly the most loyal of the Team Galactic Commanders. But what inspired her to follow Cyrus, and why does she have such undying loyalty towards the Team Galactic leader? Part of Pokémon Reset Bloodlines. Knowledge of the main story is not required for the most part. Written with Crossoverpairinglover's approval.


**Pokémon Reset Bloodlines – Mars Gaiden**

 **Written by BRANDON369, edited and translated by Fox McCloude**

* * *

 **Summary:** Mars is the youngest and possibly the most loyal of the Team Galactic Commanders. But what inspired her to follow Cyrus, and why does she have such undying loyalty towards the Team Galactic leader? Part of Pokémon Reset Bloodlines. Knowledge of the main story is not required for the most part. Written with Crossoverpairinglover's approval.

* * *

 **Sinnoh Region, eight years ago…**

"You have to be strong."

The first time Mars had heard that phrase was at the tender age of four, the day her parents passed away. Truthfully, she never quite understood what had happened; her babysitter had taken her out for a walk, and when she returned, she was informed that her house had crumbled down and her parents didn't make it out.

From that day on, the girl lost everything. She was taken in by her aunt and uncle, who never really got along with her parents in the first place, so they never treated the girl as part of the family. Her uncle was a wealthy man, on top of being the town's mayor, but he never accepted Mars. He despised the girl as much as her father, as they never had a brotherly relationship with each other. Mars was reduced to live as a servant, a servant whom her uncle didn't have to pay, forcing her to clean or do any kind of work requiring the minimal effort. He never rewarded her for it, and whenever she did something wrong, she would suffer physical abuse. In fact, Mars suspected that the only reason they didn't kick her out was because that would leave a bad mark on their family's prestige.

Despite everything, Mars had tried very hard to be strong and see life in a positive light, despite all the harshness, not having friends her own age, and enduring the abuse from her aunt and uncle, she still had to be strong and live as best as she could.

And there she was, at age twelve. Her uncle had just literally kicked her off the house's front door, again. Despite the pain, she had to be strong, and she got back on her feet forcing a smile.

"You rotten brat! You never do what I say, you're not even worth my time!" her uncle angrily yelled at her. As usual, she was ready for the worst.

"I'm sorry uncle, it won't happen again…"

"Of course it won't happen again!" He slapped Mars again. "This is what you get for not doing the housework! I told you to clean up the house! I told you!"

"I'm sorry…" She tried to apologize again, but her uncle wouldn't listen to excuses.

"Is that all you can say?!" The man glared at her, his face red in fury, before slapping her again. "You know what? You're useless! Get out of my sight! I don't want to see you for the rest of the day!"

Mars complied without a word; after all, she knew how violent her uncle could be when he was angry. The reason for this berating? A simple slip-up from her: after cleaning the house, she forgot to take out the trash.

The girl walked away from her house, going across the green glades of her town. She wiped the blood off her mouth and thought about what had happened. She couldn't let that put her down. After all, she had gotten used to her family's mistreatment. She wouldn't give them the pleasure of seeing her cry; she had to be strong, so she held back the tears and forced a smile.

"Mars, there you are! I've been looking for you all day!" A girl no older than seven approached Mars. She had dark brown hair, quite tall for her age and had strange Z-shaped marks on her cheeks.

Her name Kibou, and she was Mars' only friend in town. Coming from a wealthy family, Mars was ostracized by the rest of her peers, nobody wanted to hang out with her. Until she met Kibou: the little girl admired her, and Mars considered her as the little sister she never had. That girl was the biggest reason she could endure the daily mistreatment, the reason she had kept strong.

"Hey Kibou, how are things going?"

"You won't believe this! I've just seen a really powerful trainer!" The girl seemed quite excited, and her words caught Mars' attention.

"A powerful trainer? Come on Kibou, that kind of trainers never come to this town." It was a rare sight if a remarkable trainer would venture to such a remote town in the middle of nowhere.

"I'm serious! I saw it: his Weavile fought a Houndour pack on its own and beat them all! And then fought the leader Houndoom and caught it!"

"He beat a Houndoom? Wow, if he beat it even at a disadvantage, then he must be strong."

"I'm telling you he is!" The girl suddenly became thoughtful. "You know, when I become a Pokémon trainer, I wanna have my own Houndoom."

"You sure? Houndoom are rather fierce, training one must be tough." Mars recalled how the kids were often warned not to go to the town's outskirts, so as to avoid encounters with many of the hungry Houndour packs living in the surroundings. "Plus, since they always go around in packs, catching them isn't easy."

"Yeah, but they're really strong. And the priest says they can be very loyal if you treat them well."

"I don't know. I'd rather catch a more stylish Pokémon. Something like a Glameow." Mars began imagining her favorite Pokémon.

"Why a Glameow?" her friend asked in confusion.

"I really like them. And they're strong too: the other day my aunt was watching reruns of old Pokémon Contest battles." Mars recalled how exciting those battles had been, especially the finals of a Sinnoh Grand festival, where a girl and her Glameow wiped out the competition, even defeating a Mega Evolved Pokémon.

"Well, Glameow might be strong, but I wouldn't like one. When they evolve they become fat, lazy and ugly."

"Are you kidding? Purugly are classy and stylish their own way, I love them!" Unlike many people, Mars loved the elegant demeanor some Purugly kept.

"Well then, one day we'll fight. My Houndoom against your Purugly!"

Both girls shared a hearty laugh. They loved to imagine what they would do once they became Pokémon trainers; that was their dream. That was weird, since their little town wasn't known exactly for producing good trainers. Most of them were rather mediocre in handling Pokémon, and the very few real trainers in town were easily beaten by beginners. They even tried to establish their own Pokémon Gym once, a promising strategy to bring in visitors to town. It was a Dark-type Gym, but the leader ultimately didn't prove to be capable, stacked up too many defeats and nobody wanted to succeed him, so the federation had no choice but to shut the gym down for good.

Mars was frustrated that still had to wait until she turned of legal age to train Pokémon. Plus, she had promised to wait until Kibou had reached that age, so she had still to endure living with her aunt and uncle. Eight years, only eight more years to begin their journey together. But Mars was strong, she could bide her time. She would wait for her friend and they would set on and adventure together. After all, she adored that girl.

"Hey Mars, how about we stop by the church? Maybe we could ask that trainer for some advice."

"You took him to the church?"

"Yeah, he said he was looking for a place to stay, so I offered him to come with me while he's in town."

"Come on Kibou, the priest told you not to bring strangers home."

"Yeah, but when I asked him if the trainer could stay, he said yes. He was even happy!"

"Well, then let's go check if he's really as good as you say."

Both girls walked towards the aforementioned church, Kibou's home. Like Mars, the little girl was an orphan, but unlike her Kibou had never met her parents. As far as she knew, her mother apparently had died when she was one year old and she had been left by the church's doorstep. Fortunately, the local priest in charge had done his best to raise and provide for her. He was the closest thing to family she had, even if the little girl sometimes caused him problems.

…

The girls arrived at the church and started walking across the hallway, looking for the priest.

"Father, I'm back! I've brought Mars too!"

"Come in, Kibou!" A man's voice was heard from inside the place. "I'm in my office."

The girls entered said office and met a man, rather tall and slim, tinkering with a dismantled Pokéball. The church's priest was a rather curious man, and in the past few days he had been trying to learn the structure of a Pokéball, trying to figure out the secrets behind their functioning, or why some Pokémon refused to stay inside them.

"Good morning, Father," Mars politely greeted him, never losing the smile in her face.

"Mars, always a pleasure to see you here." The man stopped his work for a bit to greet the girl. "How are your aunt and uncle doing?"

"They…" Mars hesitated before answering. "They're fine. A little busy with work, though."

"I would imagine. Being the town's mayor isn't easy, let alone with tomorrow's event."

"There's going to be an event?" Mars was surprised.

"Didn't your uncle tell you anything?" Kibou asked. The red-haired girl just shook her head; her uncle and aunt never told her anything. "Tomorrow there's gonna be this grand event to attract tourists to our town."

"What kind of event?"

The truth was, Mars' hometown wasn't exactly a very well-known place. It was in a rather remote location, and you had to travel across the big mountains so common in the Sinnoh. Its only touristic spot used to be the gym, and there wasn't even a Pokémon Center. The Houndour and Houndoom packs living in the vicinity didn't help in promoting tourism either. Mars wasn't surprised that most people didn't even know this town existed, but her uncle didn't give up in trying to make it popular. The girl was curious to know what kind of idea he came up with now.

"Looks like your uncle convinced the Celestic Museum staff to let us exhibit one of their treasures for a few days."

"Really? That sounds good." Mars was rather curious to know what they could have brought. She was always excited to see things coming from out of town.

"Yeah, it's some kind of weird orb. From what I heard, it was discovered by a girl about the same age as you!"

Mars was quite surprised. Someone her own age had made such a discovery? That was quite impressive indeed. "Do you think it will bring people to our town?"

"It already did," the priest answered. "That trainer Kibou brought here came precisely to see said orb."

"That's why we're here, Father," said Kibou, growing a little impatient. She didn't like to be excluded from conversations. "Where's that mister trainer? I want Mars to see him."

"He's probably in the courtyard, doing some training."

"Come on Mars!" Kibou said in excitement, dragging her friend to the courtyard.

"Thanks, Father!"

The girls left the priest to go back to his Pokéball and went out to the courtyard. Indeed, there was a guy sitting along with a Weavile, they seemed to be meditating. Mars was quite drawn to this trainer, since she never saw many of them around town. It was a young man of about nineteen years old, although he looked a bit older than that, with bluish hair and an inexpressive face.

"Hey Kibou, I think we shouldn't disturb him, he seems busy…"

"Hey, Mister Trainer!" The girl paid no heed to Mars' words and went to talk to the trainer. "I brought my friend to meet you."

The guy interrupted his meditation and stood up. He remained silent for a bit before speaking up, with a rather deep voice.

"You again. I've already told you, you can call me Cyrus." The trainer glanced at Mars. "So this is the friend you told me about?"

Mars saw for the first time his face. The now called Cyrus showed no emotions in his face, but there was something that caught the girl's attention: his eyes. For some reason, Mars couldn't look away from this man's eyes. There was something in that look that gave her a strange feeling she had never experienced before. That man radiated an unspeakable strength just by looking at her.

"Hey, Earth calling Mars." Kibou's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Upon realizing she had been staring at the trainer, she blushed slightly. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry, I was… thinking. Please to meet you, I'm Mars." The girl looked again at the trainer, and then something clicked in her head. "Now I remember! I saw you on TV once!"

"Really?" Kibou seemed confused at this revelation.

"Well, you were too young back then. But a few years ago, he appeared in the Hearthome City Tag Battle Tournament." She turned to Cyrus. "You won with a Sneasel, and if memory serves, your partner was using a Clefairy."

"That was long ago, when I was just starting my journey." The man's voice showed no emotion at all.

"Have you competed in a league?" Mars asked.

"No, I've long lost interest in such competitions," the trainer said. Mars had the feeling that he recalled his old times with disgust.

"Then what do you do?" a curious Kibou asked.

"I travel across the world, watching my surroundings and searching for something that catches my interest."

"What are you looking for?" For whatever reason, his response caught Mars' interest.

"At the moment, I'm looking for strong people." The man paused for a moment to glance at Mars. "Are you strong?"

"Me?" The question caught her by surprise. She had tried hard to be strong her entire life, but she couldn't quite answer. She had her doubts.

"Mars is really strong. When we're older, we'll start our Pokémon journey together." Little Kibou decided to answer in Mars' stead.

"I see." The man glanced at Mars again, just for a second. "I can see your strength just by looking at your face. That smile is just a mask to conceal your true feelings and emotions. You're still young, and yet you have to conceal them, so I guess something must have happened to you. But if you want to be really strong, you must not hide your feelings. Rather, you should suppress them altogether. They make you weak and vulnerable."

Although Kibou scratched her head, unable to comprehend what this man had said, Mars was surprised. The guy had been able to read her completely even after just meeting her. But, was he right? Despite having tried so hard to be strong all these years, she didn't feel any strength at all. On the contrary, every time her uncle hit her, she felt pushed to the limit, forcing a smile, pretending that it didn't daze her. Maybe this man was right. Maybe concealing or ignoring her feelings wasn't enough. After all, those feelings still remained there, hurting her. Perhaps her idea of strength had been wrong this entire time. But if Cyrus was right, how could she suppress her feelings? What did she have to do to erase them? Was that even possible?

* * *

 **The next day…**

The trainer's words had left Mars with a lot to think about, but she didn't have much time to analyze them. In the wake of the upcoming grand event, her aunt and uncle forced her to work much more than usual. She spent the entire morning cleaning and fixing everything up. After all, her uncle was the mayor and their house was logically the place to exhibit the famous orb.

One of the few perks of being the mayor's niece was that, when the time came, she was the first to see said orb, if only because she had to clean its glass cabinet. Truth to be told, Mars didn't find it as special as they said; at first glance it was just a large blue sphere marked with hexagonal cells. Curious maybe, but not that special. However, when she came closer, she felt something about the orb. Something hypnotic, as if there was something inside calling out to her. Without realizing it, she approached the sphere more and more. She was about to touch it…

"You make so much as a scratch on that orb, and I'll make sure your hands can't touch anything else ever again." Mars hadn't noticed her aunt had arrived, but she quickly pulled her hand away from the orb.

"I… I wasn't going to touch it."

"Don't lie to me!" The woman snapped at her. Mars tried to reply with a smile, which only angered her aunt even more. "You stupid brat, be grateful we accepted you in our family."

When the girl didn't answer, the woman left in a hurry, though not without giving Mars a few last orders.

"You better get ready for today's event. Don't even think about embarrassing your uncle or you'll pay dearly. Go get dressed." The woman left the room, and after that she still yelled one last thing. "And don't you forget cleaning the kitchen!"

Mars decided to comply, although she still wondered if she was truly strong in putting up like this. As time went by, the townspeople came to the house slowly but surely, even Kibou and the church's priest. Mars couldn't go with her, since her aunt and uncle always told her it was wrong for her to socialize with the orphan. In fact, they never allowed her to socialize in these events, out of fear of being embarrassed by her. All that Mars could do was sitting on a corner and pray that people would not to notice her; if someone approached to greet her, she had to be polite and not speak more than necessary. Otherwise, her uncle would get really, really mad with her.

…

As the event began, her uncle started with a lengthy speech, talking about how great their town was and thanking people for coming to this meeting. It didn't take long for Mars to get bored and focus her attention on the orb. She didn't get why such a simple object could be so… enticing, maybe there was something special in it after all. Although it didn't seem to be achieving its goal; not counting a couple of guards from the Celestic Museum, the only visitor from out of town was Cyrus, that trainer who now was taking notes about the sphere in a notepad, paying no attention to her uncle's speech.

Upon seeing him, Mars recalled their encounter the previous day. She considered that moment as something very special; she saw that man with great admiration and she couldn't get out of her head those words he had given her.

But then, something strange happened: in the middle of the speech, the priest suddenly stood up from his chair and began walking towards the orb, as if he was hypnotized. Little Kibou became worried at that.

"Father? What's wrong?"

The priest didn't even hear the girl, and despite Kibou's attempts to stop him, he just kept walking. The guards quickly became alarmed and just as confused as the girl.

"What's wrong with that man? What's he doing?" asked one of the guards.

"I don't know." The mayor was starting to get nervous. This could ruin the event, so he tried his best to calm the situation. "He's a man of Arceus, so maybe he just wants to bless the orb."

"You think so?" The other guard didn't seem convinced.

"Yeah, you know how religious types can be weird at times."

Despite everything, Kibou still tried futilely to stop the priest's advance.

"What's going on with you?!" The girl yelled in desperation.

For a moment, Mars wanted to step up and help her friend, but then she recalled her aunt and uncle would surely beat her up if she did, so she remained on her seat. And then, the priest reached the orb and held it in his hands, much to the guards' shock.

And then the most terrifying thing happened: the man let out a loud cry before dropping the orb, but it didn't stop there: he held his head, crying out like he was in pain and muttering a lot of nonsensical things.

"NO! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! IT'S… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" In the middle of the crowd's shocked glances, the priest began slamming his head against the wall. "IT'S THE Z! KEEP IT AWAY, PLEASE! I DON'T WANT ANY MORE DESTRUCTION! DESTRUCTION AND DEATH!"

This only got Kibou even more worried. The guards were about to restrain the priest, but the girl went ahead, trying to help him somehow. And then, another expected event occurred: as soon as she touched him, a huge electric current surrounded the priest's body and he fell to the floor, twitching before falling unconscious. Kibou took a few seconds to notice, but upon glancing at her hands, the sparks she saw made her realize it was her who had shocked him. Strangely, she didn't feel uncomfortable with said sparks.

"What's this? What's happening to me?!"

The little girl glanced at everyone present, looking for help, but all she found was fear. Everyone was afraid of her, muttering amongst themselves, and some even hid behind their seats or covered their children protectively. Said fear also got the best of Kibou, who began crying in despair. She didn't know what was going on and nobody came to help her. The worst part, her hands were still glowing and giving off sparks she couldn't control.

Seeing her friend crying and noticing the museum guards pulling out a couple of Pokéballs, Mars decided she didn't care if her uncle hit her again; she had to help Kibou. However, someone went ahead: Cyrus stepped forward and stood in front of the girl, touching her head.

"Mister Cyrus?" The girl ceased her crying seeing the trainer close to her.

"Listen, take a deep breath. Just inhale and exhale." The man talked with such calm, Kibou quickly felt at ease. She complied and began breathing slowly. The more she did, the less her hands glowed, until the last spark in them fizzled out.

"It's gone…" The girl watched her hands in awe.

Cyrus paid no mind to the people's muttering or the glances he was getting, he just lifted the man off the floor and turned around towards the rest.

"I apologize for interrupting your event. I will take the priest back to his church and take care of everything else. Please carry on your business." He turned to Kibou, who was still staring at her hands. "Come on, girl."

Kibou just nodded and followed Cyrus out of the house. Once they were gone, there was just one thing left: shock. Everyone was confused about what had just happened, and also scared for what Kibou had shown. Mars however didn't know what to think. She was concerned for her friend's wellbeing, but for some reason she thought it was better that she left with Cyrus. Maybe he could help her too. Meanwhile, Mars' uncle wouldn't let his event be ruined, so after apologizing for what had happened, continued his speech.

* * *

 **That night…**

Despite what happened in the afternoon, the event continued as planned, although the attendants now had quite the topic to talk about while the food was being served. When the party was over and everyone went back home, Mars was left alone with her aunt and uncle. She had to wash large piles of dishes, still forcing herself to smile, while her relatives chatted by the table. Many would think that washing such amount would be hard, but to Mars the worst part was having to listen to her uncle and aunt's chatter, as they sat too close to the kitchen.

"I'm telling you, that religious man almost ruined our event," her uncle said, still angry for that.

"I don't think it was his fault," her aunt replied. "I think it had something to do with the little girl."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you see her hands? That wasn't natural, that child did something to the priest, for sure."

"Oh yeah, I always thought there was something freaky with that girl, but I never imagined something like this." Her uncle became thoughtful. Clearly he was still shocked at what had happened.

"I don't get how the priest could have taken her in." Her aunt still recalled the day 'that man' had brought Kibou to town, leaving her by the church's doorstep. For some reason she felt a bad vibe about him.

"Me neither. We have to put up with that stupid and useless brat Mars."

"I just hope the priest is OK. Who knows what else that little monster could have done to him?"

"We need to ensure that girl won't hurt anyone else. Tomorrow I'll call for a meeting with everyone in town, to discuss what we'll do."

Mars was getting sick of hearing her relatives, feeling an urge to snap at them, to stand up for her little friend. But she couldn't, she had to keep quiet. If she uttered a single word, her uncle would get mad and hit her again. She had to be strong, and keep washing the dishes as she silently ignored them. She pondered on it: her friend was probably worried. Many things happened that day, and Kibou was most likely terrified with all of this. After all, the priest was the closest thing to a father she had. There was also that strange thing with her hands, how could they glow and give sparks like that? Come to think about it, for the past weeks, Kibou had said she was feeling some strange pains in her hands, but had dismissed them.

The more she thought about it, the guiltier Mars felt, and the more worried she became about her friend. She was probably scared out of her wits and Mars wasn't there to give her support. What kind of friend she was? At this moment, all Mars wanted was to be next to Kibou. And then it happened: she was so focused on this thought, one of the dishes she was washing slipped off her hand and fell to the floor, breaking to pieces with a loud screech.

"Mars! You damn brat!" Surely enough, her uncle began yelling at her, again. "Do you have any idea how much those dishes are worth?! Do you think money grows on trees?!"

"The little ungrateful whelp needs a lesson."

She didn't get why she made such a mistake. Mars was careless and she was about to pay the price. This wasn't the first plate she had broken, so she knew what came next. It was even harsher than she remembered: her uncle hit her much harder and more times than before. Mars tried to be strong, but from all the beatings she had taken from her uncle, this was definitely the worst. Once the man calmed down and stopped hitting her, she dragged her to the door and threw her out.

"I'm sick of you! You're not entering this house again until you do your work as you should!"

He then slammed the door closed and left her in the street, all of her body aching. She had to put up with it, and maybe now it was for the best. Now she could stop by the church and see if her friend was alright.

The girl ran all the way to the church and entered, finding everything quiet. Too quiet, though probably because everyone was sleeping. Mars mentally scolded herself for coming so late at night, and was ready to take her leave when someone opened the door. At first the girl was scared, but she quickly recognized the guy.

"Mr. Cyrus, it's you."

"It's late." The man gazed at her, still as inexpressive as before. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to check on Kibou."

"Kibou? That girl is already asleep."

"But, that thing with her hands…" Mars was still worried. She had to know what happened to her friend.

"I've had a chat with her already. I explained the origin of her abilities. This isn't the first time I've found someone like her."

"Her abilities?" Mars was now even more confused. What did Cyrus mean by that? Was it something normal?

"The one who puzzles me is the priest." Cyrus dodged Mars' question, though the redhead was also curious about that sudden attack he had.

"Is he alright?"

"I cannot say. He's sleeping now, but he seemed to be having a nightmare. He was rather shaken, and even responded with fear upon seeing the girl. This is most intriguing."

"Do you think he'll be fine?" Apparently the priest was worse than Mars thought. Given that he was the closest thing to family for Kibou, she now feared for her friend's fate.

"Only time will tell," Cyrus replied.

Mars seemed to take this as her cue to leave, but Cyrus' voice stopped her.

"Hey girl." The girl stopped, knowing what he was going to ask next. "Where did those bruises come from?"

"I… had a little accident." Mars felt nervous. She didn't want to talk about what had happened with this man, but somehow felt she didn't have a choice.

"Follow me. I better help you before those wounds get infected or something."

Mars found herself unable to refuse, and followed the man inside. As he treated her wounds, she ended up telling him everything that happened with her uncle and aunt. Cyrus never changed his expression, just listening to her the entire time.

"Your relatives are like many people I've met. You shouldn't put up with them anymore."

"It's not that simple. I still have to live eight more years with them."

"Eight years?" This info confused Cyrus somewhat.

"I'm waiting for Kibou to be old enough, so we can start our Pokémon journey together," she said with a bit of resignation in her voice. "I can hold on until then. I'm strong."

"Do you really think that's strength?" Cyrus asked. Seeing the girl's reaction, he sighed. "You have no idea how wrong you are. Letting everyone stomp on you, holding it out in silence, that's not real strength."

"But what else can I do?"

"Fight back. You can't let them put you down. You must put them down."

"But they're my family…"

"This isn't about your family. Even if eight years pass and you can start your Pokémon journey, when you face the world, you'll learn the fundamental truth."

"Truth?" Mars tilted her head. Cyrus stopped for a while and glanced into her eyes before answering.

"The world is a horrible place. A place where violence, lies and hypocrisy are the everyday bread. Just like your aunt and uncle, there are millions out there, ruining our planet. A world constantly seeking to utterly break you, and the only way to survive is by being strong, casting away your emotions and feelings."

"Did you learn that during your journeys?"

"You see, child, in a newly created world, where time starts running and space expands without limit… there is no place for conflict. Yet that's all we see. Human spirit is weak and the world suffers for it. In my opinion, we've reached an unsustainable point."

"What can I do? I don't want to be broken, I don't want to spend my life suffering." Mars began recalling all the misfortunes she had suffered, and after meditating for a bit, she reached a conclusion. "I don't want to be weak!"

"Very few humans have real strength. The human spirit is weak by nature, so if you want to be really strong, you need to overcome your spirit."

"Please, Mr. Cyrus, help me. I want to become strong," Mars begged, but Cyrus didn't even flinch.

"Don't expect me to take pity on you. Even if I help you with your relatives, this world will still find another way to crush you."

The girl felt disheartened and almost fell to despair, but then Cyrus continued. "If you really want to overcome this mistreatment, be strong and fix this by yourself."

"Mister Cyrus…" Mars did want to fix this matter, but she had no idea how.

"I cannot make you strong, but… you might have a chance. You're not like the rest of the idiots living in this town." The man seemed thoughtful for a bit, and then pulled out of his bag a Pokéball. "Here, take this."

This caught the girl by surprise. Mars just remained still, looking at the Pokéball and unable to believe it.

"I… Mister Cyrus, I want to accept it, but I'm still not of legal age to be a trainer."

"Who cares about that? This Pokémon is registered to my name. There's nothing wrong with you using it."

"Are you serious?" Mars could barely hide her excitement. For years she had dreamed of the day to get her first Pokémon. She never imagined that moment would come so soon.

"Listen, what I hate the most is mediocre and weak people. This Pokémon is but a test; I want to discover if you can be someone strong, or end up like the rest of the idiots tarnishing the world with their presence."

The girl grabbed the Pokéball. She held no more doubts; she had made up her mind. She would prove to this man she was strong. Not someone weak like her uncle and aunt, or the townspeople. She pressed the button and the blue light materialized, to reveal her new Pokémon. It was a metallic, bronze mirror, floating around Mars with an inexpressive look.

"It's a…" Mars never recalled having seen this Pokémon before, despite many books she had read before about them.

"A Bronzor." Cyrus cleared it for her. "A really mysterious and rare Pokémon. It is said to be tied to ancient civilizations."

"Bronzor… I had never seen one of these before."

"This Pokémon is strong. It has to weaknesses. I've been training it for the past few weeks. It will obey any command. It might not be at the same level as my other Pokémon, but it has enough experience to defeat any Pokémon trained in this town."

The girl was curious about her new Pokémon. She tried to touch it, but Bronzor never shifted its expression. Who knew, maybe she could just flee this town with Bronzor and make her dreams come true. But she still needed to get a Pokémon for Kibou.

"I don't know how to thank you, Mister Cyrus."

"I'm not doing this for you. All I want to see if your strength is worthwhile or not."

"I'll be strong, I won't let you down."

"Tomorrow I'll leave this town and I'll continue my journey. I need to find more strong people to help me create a new world."

Saying this, the man continued healing Mars' wounds. Except for a few slight pain moans, the room was completely silent. The girl had remained thoughtful, still unable to believe what had happened, and worried about what could happen in the future. She now had Bronzor, and her trial had begun, but fear was coursing through her. She feared not being strong enough and disappoint Mr. Cyrus. But she didn't want to suffer the rest of her life either. Maybe everything would be clearer in the morning.

* * *

 **The following day…**

Mars woke up early. She had fallen asleep in the church, but upon waking up, she found no trace whatsoever of Cyrus. He probably had left already, so the girl went to have breakfast with Kibou, trying to get her to talk about the previous day, but her little friend kept dodging the issue, saying that she wasn't in the mood for that.

She then tried to give the priest his breakfast, who still hadn't woken up, but as she opened the door, she found him screaming nonsense at the top of his lungs, and burning in fever. Kibou tried to help him, but her presence seemed to only worsen his condition, so she left the room. Mars was really worried; despite being just a young girl, she understood the priest was in grave danger, not to mention having Kibou crying in worry for her foster father. She hated to admit it, but she couldn't do anything else. She needed help and as much as she loathed the idea, the only ones she could think of were her uncle and aunt.

"Wait for me, Kibou. I'll go get help."

"Please, Mars, don't let anything happen to him," the little girl said in-between sobs.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." Even though Kibou didn't say anything, Mars' confident glance was all she needed to calm down.

She had no choice; she didn't possess any medicine knowledge to help the priest, and she'd willingly sell her soul to the devil to help her friend. After a long run, she finally reached her uncle and aunt's house, but she noticed they weren't alone. They were discussing something with several of the townspeople.

"We gotta do something, Mr. Mayor!" a citizen said.

"We can't have a little witch in our town," another added. Was this some kind of emergency meeting?

"Who knows what else she could do to us, didn't you see what she did to the priest?"

"We have to protect our children!" a terrified man exclaimed.

"I understand. Trust me, that little monster will be kept under control," Mars' uncle replied. Part of his work as a mayor was of course taking care of any threat to his town or the townspeople.

"I knew there was something off with that girl. We can't forget the man who brought her," the aunt added.

"That's right. If it wasn't because of that priest, we'd have taken care of that little witch already!" The simple memory of six years ago caused an outrage in several of the townspeople.

"What do you propose, Mr. Mayor?"

"Get anything you can use to defend yourselves. We'll go to the church and capture that little witch. Be careful, we don't know how dangerous she could be." The mayor had made up his mind. He'd take care of the witch at any cost.

Mars couldn't believe what she was hearing. Those people were planning to do something to Kibou, perhaps even killing her! She couldn't allow that; her friend was no 'monster' or 'witch'. She was the only person in the entire town Mars truly appreciated, so she wouldn't let anyone hurt her.

"Mars?" His uncle noticed her presence. "Right on time, you brat. I need you to get something for me, this is important…"

"I will not!" Without giving anyone a second to say anything else, Mars turned around and ran as fast as her legs could take her.

"What's wrong with that girl?" a man asked.

"You know how rebel kids can be at their age. We'll give her due punishment later, though." The mayor was planning to give Mars a good lesson for disobeying him in public.

Mars ran as fast as she could. She wouldn't let anyone take Kibou from her. She just couldn't. Next thing to do was to go back to the church and get her out of there.

"Mars, you're back! Did you get help?" Kibou asked innocently.

"Forget about that, Kibou. We have to go. Now."

"We have to go? But Mars…" The little girl noticed her friend was extremely frightened. What could have happened to her?

"Listen Kibou, we have no time to lose. We need to get out of here on the double."

"But Father…" Kibou didn't know what was going on, but she didn't want to leave her only family behind.

"He'll be fine, the adults will take care of him. We have to get out, now."

"But why? I can't become a trainer for eight more years." Seeing Kibou so confused, Mars began getting desperate. Her uncle and aunt could show up at a moment's notice, and if they did, they'd be good as dead.

"Kibou, we need to go now! We can't wait any longer, please trust me!" Mars knew their time was running out. She just needed to get Kibou out of there ASAP.

"Okay Mars, I'll trust you."

Mars quickly held her friend's hand and both of them ran towards the town's outskirts. "I have a Pokémon with me, but I don't know if we can survive just with it."

"You have a Pokémon." Kibou seemed surprised at these news. Mars still had a few years left before being legally able to own a Pokémon.

"Mister Cyrus said he'd leave town today. Maybe we can catch up with him." Mars knew Cyrus was their only chance to survive out of town now. "He said he was looking for strong people. If I can prove to him I'm strong, maybe he'll let us go with him, and we won't have to come back to this accursed town ever again."

"How are we gonna find him?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find him, somehow." Mars once again forced a smile. Truth to be told, she had no idea how they would find him, but she didn't want to worry her friend.

And thus, Mars and Kibou left the town's limits. By this time, Mars was sure the adults would have noticed her friend was gone, so they couldn't stay in the same place for too long. The only problem was she had no idea as to where Cyrus could have gone.

"Mars… I'm tired…"

Mars noticed her friend was breathing heavily. They had been running for what looked like hours. "Alright, let's rest for a minute."

"Thanks." The girl sat on a stone to catch her breath. "I'm getting thirsty too."

"I'm sorry Kibou. It's my fault, I should have brought along some food and water before we left."

"Don't worry. Maybe Mr. Cyrus will have something we can eat when we find him."

Mars knew Kibou had said that just so she wouldn't have to worry, but she hoped she was right. Both girls sat in silence for a few minutes, having too many things to think about. But then, a creepy howl snapped Mars out of her thoughts.

"Mars… what was that?" Kibou asked, scared.

Mars became alarmed, and spotted some shadows moving between the rocks, followed by some growling and more howls. She was quick to realize what was going on.

"Houndour!" Quickly, Mars grabbed her friend's arm and ran off before the angry dogs jumped on them.

They both ran as fast as they could, but they could hear the Houndour's barks and growls coming closer by the second. After a while, Mars couldn't even see where she was running; she had been a fool. How could she forget the Houndour packs around the town's outskirts? Now they were going to pay the price. All that mattered now was to protect Kibou. For a moment, Mars considered using her new Bronzor, but taking into account the type disadvantage, she figured it would be a bad idea. She was running out of options, and before she realized, she found their path blocked by large rocks.

"Mars…" Her companion sounded notably worried. A large group of Houndour had them surrounded, growling at them in anger.

Noticing her friend's fear, Mars decided that she had to be strong, so she got in front of Kibou and stepped forward, just to be blasted by the Ember attack of one Houndour, forcing her to flinch and cover herself.

"You okay?!" Kibou tried to help her get back up. She was lucky not to end with burns, but she didn't help. There was nothing she could do against those Houndour.

Some of them began barking and seemed ready to jump on them. Mars just shut her eyes, prepared for the worst. But none of the Houndour attacked her. In fact, all of them stopped barking or growling at all.

"What happened?"

Mars watched the Houndour. They all were static, as if paralyzed or intimidated. At first, the girl had no clue what was going on, until she glanced at Kibou. Her friend was glaring at the Pokémon, her eyes glowing red-orange, while she pointed her hands forward. The Houndour then turned around and fled.

"Kibou… how did you do that?"

"I… I don't know."

They were both confused. None had any idea of what just happened. Kibou just had had a small chat with Cyrus about her new powers, but he only talked about the electricity in her hands and its true nature. He never mentioned anything of what she had done to those Houndour. Mars didn't know what to think. All she knew was that something weird was happening to her friend, and she had to be by her side to support her.

They were so focused on her thoughts, they didn't hear the footsteps coming from behind. All Mars heard was a blunt noise, and when she turned around, she found the familiar faces of her aunt and uncle.

"Uncle!" she cried out in terror. And then she noticed the fear in the man's face, carrying a large club in his hand. And there was a red liquid stain on the tip. Mars then reacted and she saw it. "Kibou!"

Her friend lied on the ground, a pool of red liquid pouring from below her head. She quickly put two and two together: her uncle had smacked Kibou with the club before she noticed, and Mars just stood there, terrified. Her aunt was the first to react.

"You… killed her?"

Her uncle took a while to respond due to the shock of what he had done. "I… I didn't mean to hit her so hard, but…" He gulped, still in fear of what he had just done. "You saw what she did to those Houndour! We couldn't take any chances!"

"She's dead! Nobody could survive a hit like that!"

"What else can I do? Even if that girl is a witch, I can't let people know I killed her! That would kill my reelection!" The man dropped the club and held his head in desperation. He couldn't be accused of murder or anything.

"Don't worry; those Houndour will most likely take care of the girl's corpse."

"You think so?" The mayor glanced at his wife. Whenever he got into trouble, she had the solution.

"And even if they do find her, we still have a believable story." The woman held her chin in thought. "Think about it. The witch went berserk and killed our dear little Mars, so we had no other choice but to avenge her."

"You're right…" The man grinned evilly. "That could work…"

Mars was terrified; she couldn't process what she had heard. Her uncle and aunt were actually intending to kill her? Worse still; Kibou lied on the floor, motionless. The redhead had no idea of what to do now; several memories clashed inside her head, until she finally made the only sound decision: to run away from the as fast as she could.

She didn't know how long she ran, and at this point she didn't care. She was too far away from town to go back and too tired to continue.

'Kibou…'

Mars sat on the ground when she couldn't keep running anymore, still trying to hold back her tears. The more she recalled her friend, the more she wanted to cry. She knew she shouldn't be crying, she had to endure, she had to be strong, she had to…

"I CAN'T BE STRONG WITHOUT KIBOU!"

Unable to hold it back anymore, Mars burst into tears. Her friend was gone, and there was nothing she could do to bring her back. All those hopes and dreams Kibou had, they would not come to pass anymore. The girl wept her heart out, unsure as to what to do without her friend. There was no point in moving on without Kibou. What was the point in being strong if her friend was no more?

And then she recalled Cyrus' words. She had always allowed everyone to stomp on her. Worse still, Kibou was the one who paid the price for that mistake. Maybe Cyrus was wrong in trusting her. She wasn't strong at all, and Kibou had been taken from her because she had been too weak to protect her.

"There you are, you damned brat!"

Mars' sorrow quickly made way to terror; her uncle and aunt had caught up with her again, the former still with that club in hand. The girl was trembling and paralyzed, she didn't want to end up just like her little friend.

"Hold still Mars, this will be quick…" her uncle said with an eerily calm voice.

"Escaping with that little witch was your biggest mistake." Her aunt sounded kind of disappointed.

"Kibou was no witch!" Mars pulled out the last ounce of courage to stand up to her friend. Even if she was gone, she wouldn't let them insult her memory.

"Why are you defending her?" Her aunt arched an eyebrow. "Don't tell me… do you have witch powers too?"

"No… I don't…"

"I knew it! You're a freak too!"

"I'm not!" The girl's tears poured more and more by the second. What else could she do?

"Let's get this over with. If she uses her powers she could be dangerous." Heeding his wife's advice, the mayor just nodded and slowly crept towards the girl. Terror quickly filled Mars; they were really going to kill her.

"No… No! Help! Somebody help me!"

"You're not going anywhere!"

The girl tried to escape, but they cut off her escape. Her uncle was raising his club already.

"Mister Cyrus! Please save me!"

"No one is going to save you now!"

Mars could only cry. Her uncle was right; nobody would come to her aid. Cyrus himself had said it: this world was really horrible and would always find the way to break you. A world where only the strong survived. Then, Mars somehow knew the time for the test had come. If she didn't prove herself strong now, she'd die. The only way to survive was to fight back. It was the moment of truth, to find out whether she was strong or not. Fortunately, Cyrus had given her the only tool she needed. With her hand still shaking in fear, she pulled out a Pokéball from her pocket.

"Where did you get that?" His uncle was mildly surprised upon seeing the ball. "So, aside from a freak, you're a thief?"

"Hey, maybe that Pokéball has a worthwhile Pokémon inside. We could sell it for some money," said her aunt after analyzing the situation.

"You're right. Give me that, Mars."

"I will not! Go Bronzor!" The Steel-type materialized in front of Mars' relatives, catching them off guard.

"Now that's a rare Pokémon!"

"Where did this little brat steal it from?"

"I am strong… I'm not weak…" Mars managed to show a smile in her face, even amongst the tears. "USE PSYCHIC ON THEM, BRONZOR!"

The Pokémon showed no emotion. Indeed, Cyrus had trained it to obey any order without question, and quickly began radiating a blue aura. Next, said energy surrounded Mars' uncle and aunt, lifting them in the air and starting to exert pressure on their bodies.

"Mars! Let go of us immediately!" Her uncle could barely speak with the pain.

"Damn it! That hurts!" Her aunt could swear she heard some bones breaking.

"I WON'T BE WEAK ANYMORE! BRONZOR, CRUSH THEM!"

The Pokémon didn't hesitate: obeying its new trainer's command, it exerted bigger pressure with its Psychic attack. Such an attack at full power could easily take down strong Pokémon, but for humans, it could potentially be lethal if they cut loose. But Mars wouldn't be satisfied with just a few broken bones, even with their cries of pain. She allowed Bronzor to continue, until she heard a violent crack, and her uncle and aunt ceased to scream and move, and then dropped inert on the ground.

A few minutes passed after that. Mars was sitting on the ground, petting her Bronzor, and despite having an ample smile in her face, she was still pouring tears. She then heard some footsteps, but upon looking, she wasn't scared. It wasn't an enemy.

"Mister Cyrus…"

"Do you regret what you've just done?"

"I… no. I have no regrets."

"I see." Cyrus nodded.

"Mister Cyrus." Mars' eyes poured out tears again, but now of rage, not sorrow. She couldn't hold back anymore. "THIS WORLD IS HORRIBLE! I HATE IT! I DON'T WANT TO LIVE IN IT ANYMORE!"

The man watched her cry, and without changing his expression, he extended an arm and patted her head.

"I know. Which is why I plan to create a better world."

"I want to see that world, Mister Cyrus. I want to be part of it. Not just for me, also for Kibou. She deserved to have seen that world."

"Then follow me. We better leave before someone can accuse you of this. We still need to find more strong people."

The man began walking, so Mars stood up from the ground and wiped her tears. She returned Bronzor and began following Cyrus.

"Mister Cyrus… am I someone strong?"

Cyrus stopped for a bit and glanced at the girl. After an uncomfortable silence, he finally spoke up.

"You will be."

After hearing his response, Mars smiled. It was her first sincere smile in a very, very long time. Maybe her own concept about being strong was wrong and that ultimately cost Kibou her life. However, she would be safe by Cyrus' side. Not only she would gain real strength, she would make a better world. She would follow this man's will wherever it took her, no matter what.

* * *

 **Sometime later, at the church…**

It was early morning by the time the priest woke up again, shaken, sweating and notably terrified. He had that same dream again, and it had gotten worse. A war like humanity had never seen before, with him trapped in the middle. There was also that mark, the Z-mark. The priest felt the chill going down his spine just by recalling that dream, night after night, since that time he touched the accursed orb. Could he ever sleep again in peace?

"Did you have pleasant dreams?"

The priest became terrified upon hearing that voice, quickly getting up to see who could have entered his room at early morning. But what he found wasn't human: it looked like some kind of pixilated cube, purple, white and black, and it seemed to lack deepness.

"Who are you?!... What are you?!"

"You know, it's curious. I hate to admit it, but that dude was right." Whatever this… creature was, he had completely ignored his question. "I tried to check out the side characters a bit, and I found some interesting surprises, including you."

"Do we know each other?" The priest didn't know if he was going mad by trying to talk to this thing, but he had to try.

"Not personally. You just caught my attention, so I decided to take a peek into your origins." Origins? What the hell was this creature talking about? "Though I didn't expect to run into another story while I watched you, let alone the guy responsible for all this mess."

"I… I don't understand."

"You don't need to. You're different to the way I pictured you. Certainly you'll change a lot in the next seven years."

The priest was really confused. What was this creature in his room? What the heck was it talking about? Did it have something to do with his dreams? Being a man of faith, he leaned into the most logical answer.

"Are you… a messenger from Arceus?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not; I'll leave that up to you. For the time being, I came for something more important."

"It has to do with my dreams, doesn't it?"

"You got it. Now listen closely: the dreams you've had, the Z-shaped mark, the war, everything has an explanation."

"Tell me! How am I supposed to break free of these nightmares?!"

"A war is coming, buddy. All chips are moving slowly across the board, but the outcome is clear. Many things will happen in the future, and you, William Stronger, are an important player."

"How do you know my name? Who are you really?"

"Does it really matter? I have a better question for you… do you know what a bloodliner is?"

 **FIN.**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Hey everyone, here's my third contribution for the Resetverse. Truth to be told this was different from my other stories, since it's my first time writing this genre, although it was interesting to do. Hope you enjoyed this gaiden, Mars is my favorite among the Team Galactic Commanders, and my original idea was giving her some background, to show why she has such undying loyalty towards Cyrus. Though to be honest, the more I wrote, the more the ideas I had for this gaiden changed, but I'm happy with the final result. Also we get our first view in person for Cyrus in the Resetverse, considering that he's an important character for the main story, I tried to be careful with his personality, though it was complicated to handle. Well, that's all I have to say, until next time.


End file.
